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Rekt in Real Life/Transcript
Joan Watson: Here you go. You can relax now. I promise no one followed you and no one's watching you. Shinwell Johnson: I guess this whole undercover thing got me on edge. Watson: Well, I can't imagine why. So how are things going with Detective Guzman? Shinwell: Good, I think. He says I'm giving him some good stuff. Watson: Did he give you an ETA on when you're gonna move on the gang? Shinwell: Above my pay grade. Guzman says when it's time, I'll be the first to know. I got a text from my daughter last night. Watson: Chivonne? Shinwell: I guess her auntie finally told her I was out. She wants to see me. Watson: What'd you tell her? Shinwell: I told her yes. Okay, Doc, you can say it. Watson: Look, I know that she's the reason why you're doing this, that you want to be someone that she can look up to. But seeing her right now could be really dangerous for both of you. Shinwell: I know, but she asked to see me. After all this time, she came to me. If I turn her down, I might not get a second chance. Watson: Just be careful. Shinwell: Always. O.G. Pwnzr: Hello, olla, and Eoh, wasseo, gamers and gamerettes. It's O.G. Pwnzr coming to you live from New York City with your daily dose of knowledge. Today I'm gonna introduce you to the newest champion for Skystrike Titans, Vadrus Typhon. He is a complete badass, which is why all you rug rats are gonna pay big bucks for this upgrade, so you can do this "But how do I execute that combo?" you ask... Olivia: Okay, admit it, this guy's hilarious. Dana: He's old. He's got to be like, 30. Olivia: Yeah, but like, that's the whole point. He's been playing forever, so he knows all the tricks. He's gonna be at the VGU Open this weekend. I'm gonna play him. I'm gonna kick his ass. Dana: I can't believe you're wasting an entire weekend playing video games with sweaty nerdcore dweebs. Olivia: Not all of them are dweebs. O.G. Pwnzr: Challenge Uncle O.G., but be warned, you will be wrecked. There will be pwnage. Okay, kids, don't try this at home. Dana: What the hell? Was that real? Olivia: Wait, did somebody hit him? Detective Bell (phone): Yes, ma'am, we'll, we'll look into it. Thanks. Captain Gregson: Hey Marcus, my niece just called. She was watching some live video online, and she thinks she saw this guy get assaulted. She's worried he might be dead. Bell: A guy who uses the name "O.G. Pwnzr"? Gregson: Yeah. Yeah, that's him. Bell: She's not the only one. 911's ringing off the hook. Apparently he was some sort of online celebrity. Whatever happened, it went viral. Look at the number of viewers. Gregson: 30,000 people have seen this? Bell: Only no one knows the guy's real name or where he was in New York when this happened. If he's dead, there's a murder scene out there, and no way to find it. Watson: Hey. Bell: Hey. No Sherlock? Watson: He wasn't there when I woke up this morning. I texted him, but I haven't heard back. So do we know any more about the victim? Bell: This is just what we were able to dig up online. Still don't know where the attack took place, or if he's alive or dead. We do know that "O.G." is a pseudonym, and that he's good at keeping his real name private. The company that hosts his live stream does all their business with him through a DBA, so we subpoenaed the IRS to pull ownership records, but they're taking their time, as usual. Watson: Mmm. Are you sure he was in New York? Bell: He said he was. He was supposed to appear at a tournament this weekend at the Javits Center. If you want the latest, you should join the Captain. He's about to get a briefing. Watson: From who, the computer crime squad? Bell: His niece. Olivia: He live-streams pretty much every day. I mean, he covers a bunch of different games, but I mostly watch the Skystrike Titans ones. Gregson: And he makes a living at this? Olivia: Well, people donate money if they like the stream. Plus, he has sponsors. He says he makes even more doing this than he did when he was a pro gamer. Gregson: A professional video game player. Olivia: It's a big thing, though, Uncle Tommy. I mean, these games make, like, billions of dollars. There are hundreds of millions of players all over the world. There are corporate-sponsored teams, tournaments with million-dollar prizes. Watson: They call it "eSports," right? Olivia: O.G. was a pro, one of the first. But it's hard for older players to stay on top. You know, their reflexes slow down, they get this thing with their thumbs where it locks from doing the same motion over and over and over. Watson: Stenosing tenosynovitis. It's a repetitive stress injury. Olivia: That's what O.G. got, so he switched from playing tournaments to streaming. He also worked as a scout and an agent, so he would find the best new players and then help them negotiate their deals with the corporate teams. Watson: So O.G. was acting as an agent in a brand-new sport with no real regulation or oversight. Gregson: How much are these deals worth? Olivia: Tons. Millions. I mean, they say it can get pretty crazy when two teams compete over a hot new player. Do you think that's why O.G. was attacked? Watson: Oh. Excuse me, would you? Watson (phone): Hey, where are you? Holmes (phone): Where are you? Watson (phone): The precinct. The Captain wanted to talk about... Holmes (phone): The violent assault of one O.G. Pwnzr during a live video stream, perhaps? Watson (phone): You heard about it. Holmes (phone): An associate sent me video of the attack just moments after. He was concerned that O.G. might require medical assistance. So I began investigating right away. Watson (phone): And? Holmes (phone): I noticed an odd pattern of lights in the corner of the video. I realized it was two different billboards flashing outside O.G.'s window. I spent the last few hours stalking midtown, searching for a location which faced two such billboards at the right angles. My search was a success. Watson (phone): You found the crime scene? Holmes (phone): That's the good news. The bad news is medical assistance won't be required. Holmes: So, as we know from the live stream, the assailant, likely a male with significant upper-body strength, pistol-whipped O.G., then smashed the camera, ending the stream. He then secures O.G. to the chair, using computer cables, and continued to beat him. Bell: So either someone really, really didn't like the guy, or they wanted information from him. Watson: These bruises would have taken at least 30 minutes to develop. Holmes: Implying that, for reasons unknown, the killer paused his attack for half an hour before delivering a final, fatal series of blows. Watson: Well, these head wounds aren't consistent with the butt of a gun. Holmes: They are not. They were inflicted with a pointed metal object, perhaps a hammer claw or garden trowel. Well, whatever it was, the killer took it with him when he left. Bell: Who brings a gun and a garden tool to commit a murder? Holmes: Hopefully, this might provide some insight. I resisted the temptation to examine it before I could establish proper chain of custody. Watson: You think it was the victim's? Holmes: There's one way to find out. Retina lock can still be triggered hours after death. Bell: Ain't technology grand? Holmes: O.G.'s real name is Owen Tuchman, and he's involved in at least one dispute via text. Bell: "Do not cross me. Stay the hell away from Tendu." Whatever that means. "Back off, or I'll destroy you." These are all from someone named Joey Ng. He's in contacts. Joey Ng of ProFine Peripherals. Address in Williamsburg. Who's up for a drive? Shinwell: Chivonne. Chivonne: I know you? Shinwell: I'm your...I'm Shinwell. You said you want to talk? Chivonne: It's okay, guys. Catch you later. You don't look like I remember. Shinwell: You, neither. Chivonne: What are you doing here? Shinwell: I texted you this morning. I said I'll meet you after school. Chivonne: They don't let us have our phones during school hours. Shinwell: I'm sorry, I didn't know. If you're not ready for this, then... Chivonne: It's okay. The truth is I'm in trouble, and I need your help. Joey Ng: Yeah, I sent those texts, but I didn't mean anything by them. Bell: "Back off or I'll destroy you." Three exclamation points. Ng: Well, I admit that was a little over the top. Hey guys, come on, focus. Don't worry about this, okay? We got a tournament coming up. Let's go! Watson: When we came here, we were under the impression that this was your residence. Ng: Oh, it's a team house, that's how we do it in eSports. I own the place, and the team lives here so that they can practice together all day. Yeah, we give them room and board, salary, coaches, trainers, the works. Holmes: According to O.G.'s calendar app, he had several meetings with you at this location over the last week, all predating your angry texts, and all on the subject of something or someone called Tendu. Ng: They all go by nicknames, and O.G. was Tendu's agent. So he found this kid online, and he flew him down from some nowhere town in northern Canada, and started shopping him to teams. And O.G. and I, we got into it. 'Cause Tendu wanted to sign with us, but O.G. kept trying to steer him to one of our rivals. Anzeka: Joey, we're ready. Sorry. We're interrupting? Bell: Looks like we're the ones interrupting. Ng: Uh, Anezka and her friends are trade-show models for the tournament this weekend. They're here to take publicity photos with the team. Anzeka: You're police. Did Joey do something wrong? Ng: No, we just...we're clearing up a misunderstanding. Hey, why don't you uh, go hang out with the team, okay? I'll be right there. Watson: So, you were talking about why you were angry with O.G. Ng: Right. Yeah, I was angry with him. But I had no reason to kill him. I won. Tendu signed with Team ProFine. Now, O.G. was furious, okay? He kept badgering Tendu to change his mind, but... Bell: Something wrong? Ng: Tendu was supposed to be here by now, for the publicity photos. Called him, like, an hour ago, but he didn't answer. Wait, you don't think whoever tried to kill O.G. went after him, also? Watson: We can't rule anything out. Bell: You know where he was staying? I could send a car to check on him. We need to talk to him, too. Ng: I don't know for sure, but I bet he was at the same hotel as O.G. Bell: There was only one room registered under O.G.'s name. Ng: Then try looking under Tendu's real name. I only learned it when we were drawing up the contracts. It's Marcel Otolik. O-T-O-L-I-K. It's Eskimo or something. Bell: All clear! No one's home. Watson: It's freezing in here. Is there a window open somewhere? Bell: Yeah, in the bedroom. Holmes: Otolik's an Inuit name. The address he registered with the front desk is well north of the Arctic Circle. So you can imagine he likes things a little chilly. His companion, on the other hand, might've preferred things a bit warmer. Bell: His companion? Holmes: Yeah, long brown hair. Looks like Tendu spent the night in someone's warm embrace. Before they went out the window. Bell: Hand and shoe prints. Holmes: Male and female. So I find people rarely exit rooms via windows when they're not fleeing for their lives. Perhaps Owen Tuchman's killer paid them a visit, too. Watson: That's one possibility. The other is that they were worried that someone would catch them with this. Looks like the murder weapon. Bell: If that's a garden tool, it's not like one I've ever seen. Holmes: That is a hakapik. It's a seal-killing club favored by the Inuits. Judging by this inscription, it is a going-away present, a little memento from home. Watson: This hook matches O.G.'s head wounds. Bell: I'm gonna put out a Finest Message. Looks like we got a suspect. Holmes: By all means, send your bulletin. We do need to speak to Tendu. But not as a suspect. I mean, judging by this murder weapon I think he was framed. Gregson: According to the lab, blood type on the weapon is a match for Owen "O.G." Tuchman, and this guy Tendu's prints are all over it. But you two still think he was framed? Holmes: Well, circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing. It might seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different. Gregson: Well, I don't know how you shift this. The blood matches the victim, and the hook matches the wounds. Holmes: The hook. Precisely. Tendu is an Inuit male from a traditional Inuit village. Hence, he's likely killed hundreds of seals. Only, seal hunters do not kill with the hook side of the hakapik. That's used for hauling seal carcasses onto the boats. To kill, the hunters use the hammer. So if he had he swung this club, Tendu would likely have killed O.G. with a single blow from the hammer directly to the temple. Gregson: Okay. So what went down? From your shifted point of view. Holmes: Well, imagine for one moment that Tendu was the killer's intended target. Only, he couldn't find him. O.G. had taken pains to keep Tendu's whereabouts a secret. O.G. himself, however, he'd been out and about in the city, he'd been taking meetings, he'd been negotiating for his clients. He would've been relatively easy to find and follow back to the hotel. Bell: We think that's why O.G. was tortured before he was killed. The perp wanted him to give up Tendu's location. Holmes: O.G. submitted. The killer goes to Tendu's room, tries to enter. He's delayed by the security latch on the door. Fresh abrasions on the metal suggest that it was forcefully engaged and then defeated. Only, by that time, Tendu had escaped. Gregson: So the guy comes up empty-handed, but he isn't ready to give up, so he finds the kid's club and he takes it back to Owen Tuchman's room. Holmes: He couldn't kill Tendu. He settled for framing him. Gregson: My niece mentioned that there's some big gaming tournament this weekend, the first prize is two million bucks. Maybe somebody wanted Tendu out of the picture. Bell: We thought about that, but he wasn't due to play this weekend. So him being dead, or on the run wouldn't have affected the outcome. Gregson: Hmm. What about this brunette you think he was with? Any more on her? Holmes: Not yet. Watson's at home combing through Tendu's social media. Hopefully, we'll have answers to our questions soon. Holmes: You're listening to Goatwhore? Watson: Trying to stay awake! Been going through this stuff for five hours straight. It turns out Tendu isn't big on words, but he loves photos. He posted a few dozen a day, every day, for the last five years. Holmes: That's 30,000 pictures, give or take. Watson: Unfortunately, he only posted a few since he arrived in New York, none since O.G.'s murder. Nothing with a new girlfriend, no hint that he might be in trouble, or where he might be hiding. Holmes: He has quite the fan base. Watson: Yeah, over 100,000 followers. Holmes: Some of these photographs went viral before he became known as an eSports star. Watson: Over 10,000 shares. What's so special about that one? Shinwell. He wants me to meet him first thing in the morning. Holmes: You should turn in for the night. We're done here. Watson: What? Just like that? Holmes: Well, you're fatigued, or else you would've noticed. Not only did Tendu's most popular selfie likely motivate the attempt on his life, but the comments section has also given us a promising suspect. Gregson: Ms. Lundquist, you promised your client would come in on her own recognizance. I could send a couple of detectives. Gail Lundquist: I'm sorry, Rayna will be here. And you'll see, she has nothing to do with whatever this is. She's a good person. Holmes: Can a fanatic be a good person? In my experience, the answer's almost always no. Lundquist: She's not a fanatic. She's devoted. Makes it hard for her to keep a schedule sometimes. Rayna Carno: Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late. Lundquist: It's okay. It's okay. Carno: I forgot to charge my car last night. Hi, hi. I am so, so glad that you granted my request for this meeting. We cannot wait to free these gorgeous horses. Gregson: Horses? Carno: Of course. We're here to discuss the NYPD Mounted Unit, right? Ending equine slavery. Holmes: While this meeting does have to do with your position as CEO of the Animal Salvation Fund, Ms. Carno, horse emancipation is not on the docket, I'm afraid. Rather, we would like to discuss your campaign to end seal hunting. Carno: A selfie? Holmes: Sealfie, actually. You and your group have branded seal hunting barbaric. But the so-called barbarians, in this modern day and age, well, they also have access to cell phones and social media, just like you do. Carno: You told me you wanted to talk to Rayna about a crime. I think you should cut to the chase. Holmes: As your client well knows, the Sealfie movement was started by the Inuits to counter outside pressure to end seal hunting. Sealfies show that the Inuit's very survival and culture depends on the practice. The young man in this photograph, for example, Tendu, he's wearing seal skin, he's uh, eating seal jerky. Bell: He's also a rising star in the world of eSports. That made him one of the movement's more visible proponents. His Sealfies went viral, causing you a lot of embarrassment. You even lost a few of your celebrity supporters. And how did you respond? By threatening him in the comments section of his posts. "If you continue to support this senseless slaughter, you and your people deserve" in all caps "extinction." Gregson: Two nights ago, this man was murdered with a seal-killing club that belongs to Tendu. The person who did this was trying to frame him. Holmes: Not quite as drastic as killing him, but an effective way to silence his voice. Lundquist: Okay, this is crazy. The posts that you're referring to, Rayna told me about them weeks ago. She regretted them and thought there might be consequences. But I'm gonna tell you exactly what I told her. Not one word of what she wrote was actionable. So if you think you're gonna turn this into a basis of a homicide investigation... Carno: Tendu and I had a meeting. Two days ago. Lundquist: What? Carno: Well, I didn't tell you 'cause I thought if an attorney was there, it might scare him away. We met in my office, and we made a deal. I promised to support indigenous seal hunting if he would come out against commercial seal hunts. Holmes: Commercial hunts killing 20 times as many seals as the Inuits. Carno: Yeah, last thing I would want is Tendu dead or in some kind of trouble. Gregson: Can you prove any of this? Carno: I have a draft of the agreement at my office. We both signed it. I can send you a copy. You can ask other people at the meeting. My assistant, Tendu's girlfriend, Libena. Holmes: Libena, that's a Czech name. Carno: I guess so. I don't know, she had a thick accent. Why? Is that important? Shinwell: Thanks for coming. Watson: Of course. You okay? You don't look so good. Shinwell: I didn't get much sleep last night. Watson: Why? Did something happen with SBK? Shinwell: Nope. Something happened with Chivonne. There's a banger. Lucien. He a player, runs some corners. He got it in his head that Chivonne is gonna be his girlfriend. And he don't care what she got to say about it. Watson: What do you mean? Shinwell: Happens sometimes. Youngblood sees something he likes, decides it's his. Doesn't matter that she don't like him. It don't matter that she just 14. One way or another, he gonna get what he wants. Now, this boy, Lucien, he keep coming at her, got his boys following her, just making her life hell. Watson: Did she talk to the police? Shinwell: You mean did she snitch? No. She worried that it's gonna come back on her and her aunt, and it would. That's why she came to me. Watson: What did she ask you to do? Shinwell: I wouldn't let her say the words but I know what she need me to do. And truth is I want to do it. That's my baby girl. Anybody mess with her, they deserve what they get. Crazy, huh? Everything I've been doing, working with you, working with the police, it was so, eventually, I can be a father to her. Turns out what she really need is a gangster. Watson: I don't blame you for wanting to protect your daughter. But if you hurt Lucien you know what could happen if his gang finds out what you did and why. Shinwell: Eye for an eye. They gonna come after me. Or worse, take it out on Chivonne. That's why I asked you here. Talk me out of it, to help me find another way. Ng: Hey. What are you guys doing here? Holmes: We were just having an illuminating conversation with Anezka here. Bell: Thanks. You can go. We'll be in touch. Anezka (in Czech): If you've hurt Libena. I'll kill you! Ng: What's going on? Holmes: Were you aware that when Tendu disappeared, he was in the company of a woman named Libena Havel? Ng: No. No, I wasn't. Bell: Apparently, she's his girlfriend. When we heard her name, it struck us that we'd already met one Czech woman, Anezka. Having two different Czechs wrapped up in the same case seemed like more than a coincidence. Holmes: We wondered if she and Anezka knew each other. If they did, Anezka could help us find Libena, which, in turn, could help us find Tendu. Bell: Anezka gave us this, from a gaming convention a few months back. She identified this girl as Libena, another of your trade show models. She said Libena and Tendu met at a party last week, here at this house. Ng: Yeah. Holmes: She also told us that she and Libena were more than just models. They're prostitutes. Bell: But you already knew that. They get close to the players, flirt with them. When you get the feeling a player wants more, you make sure it happens. Holmes: And the players themselves, they don't know the truth. And that way, they're not just more likely to stay, they're more likely to recommend Team ProFine to other eSport stars. Bell: Anezka told us Libena fell for Tendu, hard. She was thinking about telling him the truth about herself. Say she did. Say it made him angry. He confronted you, threatened to expose you. Your team could've been barred from competition. Tendu had to go. Only, you didn't know where he was staying, so maybe you paid Owen "O.G." Tuchman a visit. Ng: What?! No, that, that's not what happened. Holmes: Well, Anezka seems to think it's a quite likely sequence of events. Ng: All right, look, you are right about the girls, and you're right that Tendu found out. Only, he didn't threaten me, he came to me for help. Holmes: With what? Ng: The escort agency that we use, they're not good people. Okay? They bring these girls into the country, then extort them for, like, tens of thousands of dollars in immigration fees. They literally hold the girls' passports and take 90% of what they earn until their debts are paid. So, Tendu wanted to buy Libena's freedom. Holmes: He wanted to negotiate with human traffickers? Ng: Yes. Then he tells me if they don't want to play ball, he knows enough about computers to track down the people behind the agency, and identify them to the police. And I told him, look, trying to deal with people like that is a bad idea. And then to threaten them? That's even worse. So, I refused to front him the money, because I didn't want to encourage him. But maybe he did, anyway. If he did... Bell: The escort agency, you got the address? Bell (phone): Well, yeah, we need everything you got. Sooner the better. Watson: What's going on? Your text said you were looking into an escort agency. Holmes: That was the idea. He's on the phone with the fire marshal. Based on the weathering of this tape and the graying of the ash, the place was burned down two days ago. Washington: No question it was arson. Agency's computers and paperwork were all covered with gasoline and lit up. Problem is finding who did it. Agency employees all vanished. Paperwork's gone, and the names that I could find are fake. The whole thing was owned by a shell company. Bell: Sounds like organized crime. Washington: Yeah. I wish I could tell you which kind. Office manager was named Carla Petro, but nobody who met her thought she looked Italian, and her name is as fake as the rest. Is he okay? Watson: He's fine. Holmes: Your arsonist was driving a fully-restored, vintage Ford Mustang, model year 1965, '66, '67 or '68. Color unknown. Washington: How can you know that? Holmes: You say in your report you found a charred wastebasket inside. You thought it was used to splash petrol around the office. Washington: So? Holmes: So, why did the arsonist use a waste basket? Why not a gas can? I'll tell you why. Because the petrol didn't come from a can, it came from a car, which was parked right here. It was siphoned. There's spilled petrol on the floor here, and it has the distinct aroma of additives used for fueling old cars with modern unleaded. Additionally, there are scratches here which could only have come from the three-bladed spinning hubcaps of a classic Mustang. Watson: So, you said this garage was leased by the agency, right? Washington: Yeah. Bell: And the people who worked here are the ones we think started the fire? You want to put the Mustang over the air, or should I? Lucien: Yo, Ghostface, I got that tuna you like. Shinwell: Your cat took off. I don't think he liked the look of me. Lucien: Who the hell do you think you are? Shinwell: Shinwell. I'm Chivonne's father. Given the way you've been treating my baby girl, stalking her, making her life hell, by rights, you should be lying in a pool of your own blood right now. Lucien: That supposed to scare me? Shinwell: No. You hard. Hard G's, you either drop or you don't. Luckily for you, I'm trying to live a peaceable life. I come to make you a offer. Lucien: What kind of offer? Shinwell: I been looking into you. You got three corners, a decent amount of product. If you wasn't so damn stupid when it came to the girls, you would have a good thing going. Lucien: Look, my business is my business. Shinwell: Maybe it's time for you to put your business first. SBK got two corners near your territory. Now, I can arrange for the dealers to move out. Your people can move in, doubling your profit. Now, in exchange, I want you and yours to leave my daughter alone. Forever. Lucien: Or? Shinwell: No need for "or." You know a good deal when you hear it, and I'm only offering once. Gregson: Hello, Carla, or do you prefer Amanda? Or Tasha? Carla Petro: Carla is fine. Gregson: Carla. Bell: Well, your prints tell an interesting story, Carla. Multiple arrests for prostitution under various aliases dating back over 20 years, and then a gap. And then, two years ago, a misdemeanor for promoting prostitution. Looks like you went into management. Gregson: Made enough to buy that vintage Mustang we pulled you over in. And now you can add arson to your list of accomplishments. Bell: Maybe murder, as well. This man... Holmes: She's prepared to take the fall for her crimes, whatever they are. Likely due to a combination of fear of her employers and the promise of future compensation. Watson: Spent her whole life in the sex trade. She's used to trading herself for money. Holmes: Didn't ask you how your emergency meeting with Shinwell went. Did you manage to avert his crisis? Watson: Well, I tried to point him in the right direction. Gregson: We already have you on the arson. Carla: I spilled gasoline by accident. I dropped a cigarette. Clumsy me. But I didn't send anyone after the boy, Tendu. Neither did the people I work for. They don't even know his name. Gregson: You had motive, and we have reason to believe that Tendu uncovered the names of all your bosses. He threatened to expose all of you. Carla: He did, but he also offered me a deal, which I took. He's a nice boy. And I was happy for Libena. She found her Richard Gere. Girls from poor cities, broken homes, they get into the trade because they want to escape, make some money, and someday live the dream. Meet a wonderful man, fall in love, live happily ever after, like Julia Roberts from the movie. For most of us, there is no Richard Gere. It's a fantasy. Libena and the boy seemed to be in love, and he offered to pay off her debt, so I gave them their chance at the fairy tale. Bell: And then what? You figured if Tendu was able to identify you and the agency's owners, other people could, too? You burned down your office to cover your tracks? Carla: $100,000 is more than enough to replace some old computers and open a new office. Gregson: Tendu said he was gonna pay you a hundred thou? Carla: He didn't say he would do it. He did it. Paid me on the spot. Bell: In cash? Carla: Brand new hundred dollar bills. Bell: Joey Ng told us he hadn't given Tendu any money. Did he say where he got it? Carla: Mmm, sorry. When someone hands me money, I don't ask where it came from. Force of habit. Bell: Fire marshals will be by to talk with her next. Gregson: Any impressions? Holmes: If I had to guess, I'd say she was telling the truth. Bell: Where's Joan? Holmes: She's at your computer. Said she has a theory as to how Tendu got his $100,000. Bell: What do you got? Watson: Oh, hey. So, this is one of the last pictures that Tendu uploaded to social media. Now, the logo belongs to a company called AmpVX. They make top-of-the-line headphones. According to this, the headphones he's wearing haven't even been released yet. A friend of mine who dated a Met once, she said the guy never wore brand name unless he was getting paid. Tendu is a professional athlete now. Holmes: Significant percentage of the money athletes make is from sponsorship deals. Gregson: How do we get ahold of someone from AmpVX? Watson: There won't be anyone in the New York office until tomorrow. Holmes: But? Watson: In Beijing it's already tomorrow. Watson (in Chinese): Thank you for your help. Goodbye. Holmes: Your call went well. Watson: It did. What is that? Holmes: That's roasted huitlacoche. It's corn smut. Do you want some? Watson: Ugh. No thanks. So, the VP at AmpVX's Beijing headquarters said they signed Tendu to a five-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship deal. He collected a $100,000 advance from their New York office the day he bought Libena's freedom. Holmes: Explains the money. Watson: Ms. Jao also said that Tendu had the company wire $20,000 each to several people in his village in Maniitok, Canada. He wanted the payments to continue for the life of his contract. But he also wanted to make sure he could stop the payments if the recipients didn't fulfill certain conditions. Holmes: The payments were incentives. He wanted to ensure certain prominent citizens in Maniitok did something that they already desperately wanted to do. Watson: How could you already know that? Holmes: You tend to project when you speak Mandarin. I overheard enough to get the gist, so I contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Maniitok to see if any of their officers could provide any insight, and Officer Montcalm has been giving me an overview of a certain situation in Tendu's hometown. That, in combination with the names of Tendu's payees and their views regarding the future of Maniitok, allowed me to deduce the goal of the payments, not to mention why Owen Tuchman was murdered and Tendu framed. Watson: I don't get it. Are you saying all of this is because of local politics in an Inuit village? Holmes: The local politics are just a symptom. O.G.'s murder was ultimately triggered by something far larger in scope. He died because of global warming. Bell: Any sign of the guy? Holmes: Not yet. Bell: Our techs pinged his cell phone to a tower right around the corner. He's definitely around here somewhere. You sure he's our killer? Holmes: Kurt Godwyn is a fixer for Mather and Kline. He does all the dirty work for an exceedingly dirty law firm. So, if they sent anyone to kill Tendu three nights ago, I'll bet it was him. There he is. Brown jacket. Bell: That's him. I think I see a parking spot, what... Holmes: If you move, I'm gonna put six rounds in your liver. Bell: Police! Holmes: Are we clear? Kurt Godwyn: Clear. Bell: Get your hands up on the wall now. Holmes: Right pocket. Bell: Don't move. Godwyn: That isn't a gun. Holmes: No, but you're under arrest. Bell: Couldn't wait for me to park the car? Holmes: I could see he was armed and heading into this building. Bell: What's so special about this building? Holmes: Carla Petro was arrested here once. It was thought that her employers kept an apartment here so that the girls could entertain clients. Bell: Just the kind of place Libena might go to hide? Godwyn: You got this all wrong. I'm just here to serve a summons. Holmes: Yeah, right. Tendu? Libena? Police are here. You're safe. Show your badge. Godwyn: You gonna tell me why I'm looking at a map of Canada? Bell: In a minute. We know what you do for a living, Mr. Godwyn. Your business card may say "legal investigator," but you're a fixer. When your law firm or their clients have a problem, you make the problem go away. Holmes: You were suspected in the sudden, inexplicable death of the jury foreman on the Himmelman case. You were accused of threatening witnesses in Brust v. Zerakem, bribing a judge in the LexGo Glass lawsuit. Godwyn: Three indictments, no convictions. Holmes: A winning streak which, I assure you, is about to come to an end. Bell: Man named Owen Tuchman was beaten to death late Thursday night. Surveillance cameras recorded you in and around his hotel at the time of the murder. And the gun we found in your possession looks like a perfect match for the one used to pistol-whip the victim. It's not too late to cut a deal. We still don't know which of your firm's lawyers ordered the hit on Tendu. You give us a name... Godwyn: I don't know what you're talking about. Why would anyone from my firm want me to kill some Eskimo? Holmes: Global warming. Your presence here is the result of uh, let's call it, um, "the reverse butterfly effect." You may be aware, the actual butterfly effect is small, local events having strikingly large consequences. Bell: A butterfly flaps its wings in the Congo and triggers a hurricane in New York. That kind of thing. Holmes: But the inverse is also true. Large-scale events can have small, local consequences. For example, fossil fuel emissions melt arctic ice, opening Canada's formerly ice-clogged Northwest Passage to commercial shipping. Cargo companies can uh, save billions of dollars a year on fuel now by exploiting this new, shorter route. But only if they can secure land rights along the Northwest Passage for new ports. Bell: We understand your firm was hired to secure those ports. If they pull it off, the partners stand to make millions in commissions. Holmes: Unfortunately for them, the indigenous residents of the Northwest Passage, specifically the villagers of Maniitok, are loath to relinquish their ancestral lands, a fact which led to you being ordered to shoot a young Inuit in the head. Now, you can either let this butterfly-induced hurricane land entirely on you, or you can point us to whichever lawyer flapped his or her wings and blew you to Tendu's door. Lundquist: Well, sorry to sound like a broken record, but like I said, Rayna's not great at being on time. Gregson: Well, actually, Rayna's not gonna be joining us today. Watson: We've been doing some digging, Ms. Lundquist. It turns out your work at the Animal Salvation Fund is completely pro bono. Your day job is contract law at Mather and Kline. According to this, your current assignment is to secure port locations along the Northwest Passage for a company called Newhall Transocean. Now, if you manage to succeed, you're in line to make partner. Gregson: A partner at a white-shoe firm like Mather and Kline makes millions of dollars a year. Watson: But securing the ports hasn't been easy, has it? The locals are poor, and they're attached to their traditions. So you volunteered your legal services to an animal rights group here in New York and managed to convince them to pursue a ban on seal hunting. Gregson: Ban like that would've wrecked the locals' traditional way of life. They would've been forced to either relocate or seek new income. You were hoping that they'd fold and agree to Newhall's port deal. Watson: But Tendu Otolik's Sealfies turned public opinion against the ban. So, when you switched to Plan B and tried to buy the village outright, he stopped that, too. He sent money home in exchange for a promise from the village elders to never agree to Newhall's port. Gregson: No way were you gonna make partner after that. Not unless you could make Tendu go away. Which brings us to your fixer, Kurt Godwyn. Lundquist: No, no, you see... Gregson: Save it. We've already got a full confession from Mr. Godwyn. You might want to call your firm. You're gonna need a good lawyer. Shinwell: Hey. Chivonne: Hey. Shinwell: I wanted you to know that boy Lucien won't be bothering you no more. Me and him, we had a talk. Chivonne: A talk? Shinwell: Sometimes that's all it takes. Chivonne? You won't have no more problems with him. I promise. Chivonne: Thanks. Shinwell: I liked walking you home the other day. I was thinking maybe we can make it a habit. Chivonne: Don't. Shinwell: Don't what? Chivonne: I know what you want. For you and me. But I can't do it. What you did doesn't change things between us. It doesn't make us family. I came to you because I had to. Do you understand? Shinwell: I understand. You do what you need to do. Category:Transcripts